


Once upon a time

by Ameko



Series: Sheep and wolves [1]
Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Angels Being Assholes (Good Omens), Angels are sheep, Demons are wolves, Good Demons, Hurt Aziraphale (Good Omens), Light Angst, M/M, Possessive Crowley (Good Omens), Soft Aziraphale (Good Omens), just a bit, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:34:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22725493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ameko/pseuds/Ameko
Summary: Once upon a time, a shepherd lived in a beautiful village, in the heart of the forest. The shepherd had two types of creatures to take care of: sheep and wolves.A Good Omens AU, where God is a shepherd, angels are sheep and demons are wolves.
Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)
Series: Sheep and wolves [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1634167
Comments: 17
Kudos: 132





	Once upon a time

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sadwendigo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sadwendigo/gifts).



> It was meant for the Valentine's exchange as a gift for Sadwendigo, but I really love this AU so I'll probably add more to it.
> 
> Enjoy!

Once upon a time, a shepherd lived in a beautiful village, in the heart of the forest. The shepherd had two types of creatures to take care of: sheep and wolves.

The sheep were all very beautiful. They stood like humans on two legs, had beautiful hair like wool and wore expensive fabrics to cover the front of their bodies. The shepherd treated them the same as he would have done with humans, and therefore they become human-like, with human body, human language, and even human face. The only thing that permitted to know they weren't really human was their little horn on the top of their head and the wool on their back and head. They had to trim it often, otherwise, the wool started to grow on their belly and torso, and they really didn't want that.

The wolves, on the other hand, were often dirty and not always beautiful. They preferred to stay on four legs most of the time, even if they could go on two legs, like the sheep. They liked to play between themselves, fighting playfully in the mud. They had fur on their back and between their legs, so they didn’t have the need to cover themselves with clothes. They also had their ears on the top of their head, and a fluffy tail. They also had sharp teeth that made the sheep uncomfortable, but everytime they told the shepherd about it, they were told to not worry about it.

But one day, the shepherd disappeared. At first, nothing changed, probably because everyone was waiting for the shepherd to come back to the village. However, time passed and the shepherd was nowhere to be seen.

As time passed, the sheep became anxious. The wolves were meant to protect them, but what if they tried to eat them? They could be jealous of them, jealous of the attention that the shepherd had gave them, jealous of their beautiful clothes… 

At one point, the sheep decided that they needed to protect themselves from the wolves and they chased them from the village. The wolves didn’t understood why. After all, they were meant to protect the flock, to guard the village while the shepherd was absent…

Not wanting to hurt the ones they were supposed to protect, the wolves gave up and left the village, going into the forest.

Legends started to grow as the older sheep took the power in the village, telling the youngers one to never leave the village, to be careful of the wolves who would eat them if the occasion arises, and to always listen to them, because the shepherd told them how to behave, and therefore, they knew what to do. The new sheep learned the fear of the wolves, and the old sheep used that fear to become powerful over them.

Years later, the sheep were still alone in the village. It was common knowledge that you should never try to leave the village, if you wanted to stay alive. 

But one sheep was drawn toward the forest.

It was a peculiar sheep. Most of the others thought that he was too fat, too small, too fragile to be worth knowing, and he was bullied by the others. He was named Aziraphale.

Aziraphale had wool that wasn’t white like the others. It was more cream, almost blond. With the sun, it could appear golden, unlike the others whose wool appeared silver. If it wasn’t enough to make him an outsider, Aziraphale also didn’t like clothes like the others, covering his body with simple robes and trimming his wool only when needed. He preferred to observe the nature around the village and take notes that he would read often with a smile, like if he was living his own memories while reading.

Some of the older sheep, led by one named Gabriel, wanted to get rid of him without being caught. Gabriel wasn’t really smart, but his friend Sandalphon was, and he was vicious. He was the one to have the idea that would lead Aziraphale to his own destruction.

One day, after the common meal, Gabriel, Sandalphon and Uriel, an ewe that was always with the two rams, cornered Aziraphale against one of the village’s walls, to be sure that no one else would hear them.

The outcast sheep was kinda afraid, but he tried to smile anyway. After all, he wasn’t a threat to the other rams.

“Well… Good afternoon…? May I help you…?”

Gabriel clapped his hands on Aziraphale’s shoulders, smiling too wildly to be honest.

“Aziraphale! The sheep I was looking for! I have a mission for you!”

“A mission…? What kind of mission?” he asked, suddenly interested.

See, Aziraphale had always wanted to be part of something. Of a group, of an adventure, anything. But he was a creature of habit and changing by himself was something too difficult for him.

Sandalphon and Uriel exchanged a look with a smile, as Gabriel nodded and smiled even more.

“Yes! As you know, I’ll soon become the new leader of the village. It’s my destiny, after all. And so, I have access to information that may interest you. We found where the shepherd is.”

The younger sheep became tense, surprised.

“...The shepherd, really…?”

“Yes! But see, I can’t leave to go find him myself. But I’m sure you would. You will be the hero who would have guided the shepherd on this way back to the village!”

“Well, I mean…”

“I knew you’d be the sheep of the situation!”

Gabriel clapped him on his back, making Aziraphale wince and move, being pushed toward the exit of the village. He couldn’t really say a word as the bigger ram continued.

“You just have to follow the path. If you continue straight ahead, you’ll find a little house. The rumors said that the shepherd was inside the house."

They were almost at the entrance of the village. Of course, nobody was around and Sandalphon and Uriel stayed where they were to make sure that if any sheep came by, they could send them on another way. It was obvious that Gabriel wanted to get rid of Aziraphale as soon as possible. 

In front of the entrance, both sheep stopped and the youngest tried to object a bit. 

"But, Gabriel… It's already the afternoon… what if I don't found the shepherd before the sun goes down?" 

The ram sighed, shaking his head and making his beautiful wool bounce around his big horns. 

"Nonsense. It's not that far. You'll be at the house before night. You will sleep at the shepherd's place and come back in the morning with our guardian. I'm sure you can do it. You won't disappoint me, won't you?" 

The last question was asked with an almost gentle smile, making Aziraphale stop fighting. He wanted to make the ram proud… He wanted everyone to see him as a ram too, not just as the black sheep in the flock, like all his life before. 

Lowering his eyes, he shook his head slowly. 

"No… No, I won't… I'll go find the shepherd…" 

Gabriel slammed his hand on his back, making him wince once again. 

"That's what I thought! You have your little notes on you, right? Maybe you could find interesting information on the way that will help us in the future, so make sure to write everything down. Now, off you go." 

Gently, Gabriel pushed the young sheep outside of the village. Once on the other end of the entrance, Aziraphale looked back at the ram with a bit of fear, but saw Gabriel's thumbs up to encourage him made him take a long breath before turning his back to the village and going on the path. 

Once the little sheep had disappeared behind the three, with nothing more on him than his clothing and his little bag with his notebook and his crayon, Gabriel, Sandalphon and Uriel smiled at each others and made their way toward their favorite place to celebrate the future death of the pathetic sheep that they sent away. 

* * *

  
  


Aziraphale had been walking for half an hour before realizing what had happened. He stopped dead in his track, suddenly looking around him.

He was in the forest, following a path toward the possible location of the shepherd. He was walking barefoot, with just his robes, his wool -too long because it was already growing between his legs and on his belly, making him look even more fat than he already was- and just a few hours before the night with nothing to eat or drink.

He was so dead.

The young took a deep breath to stay calm, closing his eyes for a few seconds.

“Okay, okay… It’s okay… I just need to stay on the path until I find the house… It’s gonna be okay…”

He reopened his eyes with a fake smile and got back to his walking. He tried to not think too much about the wolves living in the forest. From what he knew, they were monsters, animals that just wanted to hurt the sheep or even eat them alive if they had the occasion. Even though he never had see one near the village, it was as the oldest told them, so it was obviously the truth… At least, that what he was thinking right now.

He only had been walking for an hour when he found that he was quite hungry. He patted his plump stomach, hidden by the clothes and his wool, looking around him. He needed to find something to eat…

It didn’t take long to spot a bush with berries on it. With a big smile, he went toward it, ignoring the fact that he was going off the path.

He gathered a few berries, eating them one by one, before spotting another bush a bit father. So he went to it. And then to another. And another. And another.

By the time he finished his snack, he was completely lost in the forest, even though he took quite some time to notice, since he was preoccupied with gathering more berries for the rest of the road.

Actually, he only really realized it because of the difficulty he had observing the color of the berry in his hand. At that point, he took a good look around him, horror settling in his guts: it was almost dark and neither the path nor the house was visible for him. He didn’t even know from which direction he came.

Tears of panic started to gather in his big green eyes as he tried to take a few deep breath.

“Well… Okay, nothing to worry about… I just… need to get back on the path… And go back to the village, before it gets dark… Yes, that should d-”

He was suddenly cut in his monologue by a roar coming from somewhere around him. Fear grew inside his stomach, making him choke with horror. It wasn’t a wolf, he was sure of it… But it didn’t mean it wasn’t something that could hurt him horribly…

Before he could think, he started to run in the opposite direction of where he thought the predator could be.

He realized that it had been a mistake when, after only a few seconds, he heard another roar, more powerful, and the sound of heavy footsteps running behind him. He was being chased.

A pitiful whine of terror escaped his mouth before he could stop it and he started running faster, as if his life depended on it.

Maybe that was the case.

He was cut short in his own thoughts by a howl from his side. He could still hear the predator who was chasing him just behind him, but a new sound made him feel cold inside.

When another howl resonated on his other side, he knew he was going to die. The wolves had joined the hunt.

Aziraphale started to cry. He couldn’t control it. His lungs were in fire, he was breathing loudly and his legs were already shaking. He couldn’t keep running like this for long.

He didn’t wanted to die. No like that. Not alone. Not while knowing that he was going to disappoint the other sheep. He hadn’t found the shepherd. He was a failure… And he was going to die, eaten by the big predator behind him, or by the pack of wolves that he could now hear howling just a few steps from him.

He was so focused on his need to run away from the danger that he didn’t saw the cliff before it was too late.

With a scream, he fell down, rolling toward the bottom of the cliff, scratching his body and clothes.

Once at the bottom, he looked up toward the top, just in time to see a big animal covered in brown fur, something he thought that the oldest called a bear, being attacked by multiple figures, half human-half animal, like the sheep.

Aziraphale knew that it was the wolves and they were probably trying to get rid of the bear to eat him by themselves.

He was tired, shaking with exhaustion, but he couldn’t stay where he was. So, he sat up and tried to get on his feet, only to bite his own lips in pain, almost drawing blood. One of his ankles was bent in a strange direction, and one of his arms was hurting too much to move it. So he just tried to crawl as far as possible from the fight.

The sheep took quite some time to get far enough to stop hearing the noises of the fight. He didn’t know how long it took to achieve that, but he was too tired to care. His body was screaming with pain, he was still breathing too fast and he just wanted to sleep.

Back against a tree, he didn’t have to think about it twice before falling asleep, way too weary to notice the sound of footsteps coming slowly in his direction.

* * *

  
  
  


The first time Aziraphale woke up, he felt strange. He was quite warm, but he also felt like he was moving, rocking gently,. Once he regained conscious, he could have sworn he was being moved by someone, but the pain from before returned, cutting short his reflection and making him whine in pain. He heard a warm, gentle voice coming from above him shushing him gently, as the pressure against him increased, as if the person was trying to reassure him.

It didn’t take much more for him to lose consciousness again, feeling strangely safe like that.

The next time he woke up, the sheep felt like he was back at his home, in the village. He was on a straw mattress, feeling quite warm and comfortable. Then, his memories came back and he opened his eyes with a gasp, sitting in one movement.

A soft chuckle near the mattress made him turn his head quickly. There, in front of him, sitting on the floor, was a young human-shaped being. Like Aziraphale, he was part animal, but it wasn’t a sheep.

Aziraphale’s eyes went wide as he tried to recoil against the wall - cold like rock, so they probably were inside a cave -, only to whine in pain, his leg and his arm reminding him suddenly about his fall.

The other being didn’t move, smiling sharply and making the sheep shiver. It was a wolf.

Oh Lord, he was so dead now.

Then something caught his eyes. Something red.

“...You’re hurt…”

Aziraphale’s voice was so soft at that instant that, for a few seconds, he taught that it was not possible for the wolf to have heard him.

But the wolf was stunned.

“Hmm… Yeah? Kinda. The bear that was running after you was pissed. Almost got my arm ripped off.”

The wolf, with a beautiful red fur and yellow eyes, now that Aziraphale took the time to really look at him, seemed still surprised but he was smiling more softly.

“...May I take a look?” asked the sheep, feeling a bit bold.

At that, the wolf laughed and shook his head in disbelief, before coming near the sheep, like a predator.

“Why, little lamb? You think you can use it to harm me and run away?”

Aziraphale pouted, not amused. Fear had disappeared of his mind. Something inside him seemed to know that he wasn’t in danger.

“I don’t plan to run away. I, for starter, am unable to run, or even walk, for now. Just let me take a look at it.”

Gently, the sheep took the wolf’s arm and tutted. It was nothing too important, but it still needed to be cared off.

So, naturally, the sheep ripped off a piece of his robe and used it to make some kind of bandage around the wolf arm.

“Hoi! What are you doing?!” growled the wolf, but without moving. “You’re ruining your clothes!”

Aziraphale hummed gently, finishing his work.

“Well, you needed it more than me, obviously.”

The sheep then smiled toward the wolf, who just sat where he was, shocked. Then, an amused smile, almost tender, appeared on his lips.

“...You’re really different from the others… What’s your name, lamb?”

The sheep narrowed his eyes toward the predator.

“I’m not a lamb! I’m a ram. And my name is Aziraphale.”

The wolf snickered, getting his hands up as a peace gesture.

“Sorry, sorry. You’re just… So different from the other sheep. And way more cute than any other ram I saw.”

Aziraphale blushed suddenly, before looking at him with surprise.

“...You… You went near the village before... Why?”

“Well… That’s kind of our job, lamb. Looking after all the little sheep inside their little village, making sure they’re safe… I saw you multiple time, you know? You were always standing alone… The black sheep of the flock…”

As he was talking, the wolf was looking at the sheep with intensity, staying near him and gently caressing his cheek. Aziraphale was allowing it, too caught in his stare, his own green eyes lost in the yellow of the wolf’s ones.

“Is that why you were alone, lost in the forest, Aziraphale?” the wolf whispered near his ear, making the sheep shudder.

It was so dangerous… And yet, it was also exhilarating. The sheep took a shivering breath, before answering, mimicking the volume of the wolf’s voice.

“N-No… I was… I was looking for… For the shepherd… Some… Someone told me… where to find… The shepherd… So I went…”

The wolf took a step back, looking at him with… Was it pity? Or sadness? The sheep just couldn’t tell.

“Oh… I see… You really are different…” He sighed. “You won’t find the shepherd… The shepherd disappeared. We live in the forest and we couldn’t find their trace…”

“But… But Gabriel… He told me…!”

The wolf watched him a long time without a word, before moving to be behind him, taking him in his arms to cuddle him against his chest. The sheep flinched but within a few seconds, he took a deep breath and relaxed against the predator, feeling the warmth coming from the beautiful red fur of the wolf all around him.

“I’m sorry, lamb. This… Gabriel… He tricked you… I guess that he wanted to get rid of you… But don’t worry… You’re safe here… Me and my pack, we’ll take care of you, until you’re back on your feet… And then… If you wanna go back to the village, we’ll make sure that you go back safely… Or…”

As Aziraphale was gently lulled into going back to sleep, the wolf was brushing his wool, nipping at his ear to assert his dominance on his, marking him with his sent to keep him safe in his pack’s den.

“If you want, you could stay with us… Let us protect you like we were meant to be…”

The wolf smiled as the sheep yawned between his arms, shifting a bit to nest against his naked body and searching the heat in his fur, using grabby hands and a little pout to find the perfect position.

The wolf indulged him. He felt that, with this peculiar sheep, he would always indulge him.

“Sleep, Aziraphale… I’ll take care of you… I’ll make sure you’re safe… You’re under my protection, now… My little lamb…”

Sleepy, the sheep opened one eye to look at him, whispering:

“May I have your name…?”

“It’s Crowley, lamb. Sleep. You’re safe here… You’ll always be safe with me. Sleep, Aziraphale…”

The sheep nodded, falling asleep in the arm of the wolf, his name on his lips.

**Author's Note:**

> My Tumblr username is amynastre, feel free to come and talk with me =)


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